How Teaching High School Students Social Media Marketing can Benefit the next Generation of Marketers

There are currently an abundance of marketing programs that are offered in Canadian colleges and universities that get post-secondary students the education they need heading into the workforce. When it comes to marketing and brand promotion, there is no doubt that the success of a business heavily depends on a company’s ability to market their products or services successfully. That being said, it comes as a surprise that few marketing courses are offered in Canadian high schools, even though such a large amount of students choose to go into the marketing field. As we cross over into this digital era there could not be a better time to teach high school students about the importance that marketing holds in business. Due to the fact that pretty much every teenager/high school student avidly uses social media for entertainment purposes on a daily basis, it is important to teach these students how to use social media to their advantage. Believe it or not, social media is viewed as one of the best platforms to market your product or service in today’s day and age. Seemingly overnight there have been countless businesses that have flowered into success through the power of social media.Not only have businesses become known through social media, but think of all the large scale global companies that constantly promote their products through Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. By simply posting a picture of a new product, or creating a promotional Youtube video/commercial, companies are automatically showcasing their products to their followers. What makes social media such an effective marketing platform is the fact that people are able to share posts with their own followers, creating an even larger amount of viewership. The fact that people can ‘share’, or ‘retweet’, the posts they find interesting is what gives social media an advantage over a simple billboard or television commercial. It’s true that not all businesses could gain a substantial following through social media, and one could even say that not all businesses are fit for social media, but ultimately in order for a business to thrive in today’s society, they will have to have some kind of social media presence.With all of the advertising that we see on social media, it is clearly not a secret that companies are using social media for marketing purposes. It is evident that aspiring high school business and marketing students must learn how the power of social media can change the dynamics of a business. If students were taught how to effectively use social media for brand promotion, it would not only help students use social media more professionally to hone every opportunity it gives them, but it may also inspire students to enter the marketing field.
Incorporating the digital/social media form of marketing into the high school curriculum would undoubtedly help gain the interest of high school students, and it would also teach them how to use social media for their personal benefit. Maybe the main reason why schools have not taken the benefits of social media into account is because they view it as a distraction or a novelty, but in my opinion that’s all the more reason to teach them the intricacies of it. Ultimately by teaching high school students how to create an effective online presence through social media in order to promote their businesses, it would certainly give the next generation of marketers an advantage over the current companies who have not progressed with the digital standards of our current and future society.Alex Krstic is currently a student at Bill Crothers Secondary School interested in entering the field of business and marketing. He has recently been interning for CAMP, learning the skills and attributes needed to enter the marketing profession. Alex can be reached at alexkrstic1@oulook.com